‘Shake and bake’ meth lab bust in Pierre Part

Tue, 2014-02-11 15:18

Kevin Pintado

Pierre Part, La. --

Staff Report

A 36-year-old Pierre Part man was arrested Monday in connection with an incident where firefighters responded to a shed fire Friday and found precursors to a meth lab at the scene, Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack said in a news release.
Kevin Pintado, 36, of the 3200 block of La. 70 in Pierre Part, was arrested Monday for operation or creation of a clandestine laboratory.
Pintado is on a five-year unsupervised probation for a prior conviction in 2012 after getting credit for time served for the operation or creation of a clandestine laboratory in Pierre Part after a 2011 arrest, the sheriff reported. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections has placed a hold on him. Pintado is being held in the Assumption Parish Detention Center with no bail set yet.
The Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted a search warrant in the 3200 block of La. 70 in Pierre Part on Friday, after deputies received information concerning a fire that may have been caused by a suspected “meth cook going bad,” the release stated.
Prior to the search warrant, Pierre Part Fire and Rescue had responded to a reported shed fire in a residential area around 4:30 a.m. Friday. Agents determined the presence of pre-cursors of a meth lab operation known as a “shake and bake lab,” the release stated.
The investigation is ongoing. Information gathered from the preliminary investigation indicates the cause of the fire was a plastic bag containing lantern or gas stove fuel had caught on fire. Pintado then threw the bag onto a mattress which then also caught on fire, the release stated.
The fire was not a result of an explosion from a “meth cook” in process, the release stated.